This Young, Hopeful First Latina President Is Everything We Need Right Now

She's only 11-years-old but Jaqueline Zuno has big aspirations. The ambitious tween wants to be the first Latina President— and she already has some really good ideas.

From her own family's experience emigrating to America from Mexico, Zuno knows the importance of working together and diversity. “My mom – very young, alone, and pregnant with me – wanted a better future for her family,” she said, per Remezcla. “So one cloudy morning, she set foot in the Rio Grande and began her journey. To say that she was afraid would not be true, because she was absolutely terrified. Shivering through the waters with no end in sight, she got pushed over by a wave. The wave knocked her down, and for a moment, she thought our lives were over. But remember, we are better together. She told me that a group of men in front of her saw her fall and came back. They helped her because they thought, ‘What if that woman was me? What if someone didn’t help me?'”

Now a student at KIPP Academy West, she has her eyes on the biggest seat in the country. “Now, my goal is to become the first Latina presidente de los Estados Unidos,” she said. “And I know if I achieve my goal of becoming president, it will make my mom so proud. It will make la gente de Mexico proud, too. My focus would be education and immigration. I choose education because it’s the only thing that can’t be taken away from you because it’s in your heart. I want to focus on immigration because I want people to know that las manos that built this country are not all of one race. And the hands that lead this country now shouldn’t be either.”